Scrolling through social media feeds and glancing across the status updates leads to a lot of quick bursts of emotions. All the information ranging from who’s dating whom to where one is vacationing or visiting clubs becomes available at one tap. Tapping through them eventually you land up on some screenshot that flaunts an unbroken streak of some sort. It could be that of gym visits, meditations, cycling or even of Snapchat.
Most of us can’t help but admire the streak and rightfully so, after all, they posted because it is unique. If the streak resonates with something that we value ourselves and are struggling to incorporate into our lives, then it undoubtedly creates a unique longing for the same. We try or at least wish to emulate it. This brings the question to the brim, how meaningful are these streaks? Aren’t they the epitome of consistency? Or can there be a middle ground, which is more effective? Well, let’s find out!
Streaks represent an act performed every single day. The very definition of consistency is the state or condition of always behaving in the same way. So streaks indeed demonstrate the highest form of consistency. But can this consistency be always the most effective technique? It depends on the intent adopted to maintain the streak.
For instance, let’s say someone begins a meditation streak only for the sake of posting it on social media and continues it. They turn the meditation app on and don’t do it, aka, cheat; the meditation version of ‘chatting on a treadmill’. In this case, the insincerity involved is not visible to the social network but in reality, it makes no significant contribution to the individual’s life. If anything, it creates a pseudo-pressure on the individual ‘to act up as if it’s working’ because of the difference between perceived social identity and reality.
On the other hand, another person starts a gym streak. On some days they don’t want to train but then they are reminded of the streak. Riding on only this tiny bit of motivation to maintain the streak, they drag themselves to the gym and… Voila! They soon find themselves going through the entire training joyfully and thanking their motivation for maintaining the streak satisfactorily.
Did you notice the difference between the two scenarios? It’s not the endeavour involved but rather the degree of involvement of the individual in the activity. In both cases, the individual was faced with internal resistance. In the first case, the individual would rather cheat and not perform the activity, i.e., meditation. But in the latter case, the person, irrespective of how they felt, dragged their selves through the activity; betraying no one and especially not themselves. It’s here how the streaks leave their mark, by building up positive pressure.
This also surfaces the next challenge posed by streaks, no matter how positive it may seem, pressure, in the end, is pressure. To live up to this pressure is one thing, but in case of a break of the streak, the same pressure generates disappointment. How? Let’s imagine you were on a 27 days jogging streak. If you happen to break it on the 28th, then you could lose all the momentum and ask “What’s the point now, since the streak is broken?” Now you wouldn’t jog on the day after and maybe the days ahead. All the consistency gained and the setup of a new habit is lost only because of a single lapse. It’s then, this pressure of streak justified?
Maybe not. Instead of focusing on getting a habit going every day, how about expanding the time frame that defines consistency? For instance, the streak was that of jogging every day: What if we create a safety cushion of a couple of days per week? Meaning that it would be great to jog all 7 days but 5 would be just enough. So that whenever we, the human beings we are, lapse, can get less disappointed and quickly return the next day for jogging?
After all, even the machines don’t have 100% mechanical efficiency! So even if the 27 days streak was achieved within a month and this new average scheme probably allows 20 days of jogging a month; in the long run, it averages which we have more likelihood of sticking with. In the second month, the number of jogging days would be 40, whereas restarting the streak would be a real uphill ask!
In the end, streaks demonstrate great determination and consistency. But it’s the averages that prove to be effective and efficient. After all, if you care more about the effect of the activity than the social media awe, you’d choose the more realistic and efficient option of the averages!
